Discussion

Quintessential or Noteworthy SF Restaurant for out-of-towner?

Hey y'all, the dilema: 40-something out-of-town guest visiting me in SF for one night only! Has never visited SF before. Oh the pressure to find the perfect restaurant.

Help!

Ideally restaurant has really good food--any cuisine. Perhaps a quirky, fun or unique atmosphere or bar. View would be great too but not necessary. Something memorable. No price restrictions--tend to prefer higher-end restaurants.

Since the OP mentioned reading the "new to this board thread" I assumed one word would be enough since that thread also mentions how to search for repeated requests. The OP even has an excellent link to a recent Zuni report with pictures.

There was the view option maybe the new Epic Roasthause or Waterbar with fishes swimming in the columns. There are a few reports on those places too, but being new, not many. There is also Orson ... also new with only one report so far.

Yes, I forgot Aziza which is the daily response to this type of question. For some reason I don't consider this high end ... or at least in the same end as Zuni. But it is a good answer to this question.

Hope the OP will report back about where they went to keep info fresh on the board.

Aziza is great and unique, but I don't think there's anything quintessentially San Franciscan about it. If Mourad Lahlou had opened it in Los Angeles, it could have been pretty much the same restaurant.

Zuni, on the other hand, could never have evolved anywhere else, and the crowd is very distinctly local. If Judy Rodgers had taken over a place in Los Angeles, it would have become a very different place. That's more or less what Campanile is, and while there's some similarity in the food, you know you're not in San Francisco.

I don't think Los Angeles would embrace Aziza the way San Franciscans have. Los Angeles just doesn't do cutting edge and while Aziza as a restaurant might very well be the same restaurant, it would not have the staying power and following in LA as it does here. (This is coming from an 18-year Angeleno veteran and knows its dining scene very well.)